With Excavator's help, the construction of System's underground nest was going smoothly.

  After five days, the big worker ant had dug three meters deep and opened up two one-meter-high square chambers. Excavator, along with System's other ant subjects, were all living there temporarily.

  While the nest had a round entrance, System had told Excavator to make the passages inside square-shaped with smooth walls, as that was the look that most suited System's aesthetic sense. It had taken a very long conversation to get the idea across, but the big worker had figured it out in the end.

  System also wanted to build some lethal traps in the nest's passages, but that idea fizzled out when he realized that he had no idea how to make traps. Instead, he could only try to grow more pnts at the entrance of the nest.

  The pnts that System had catalyzed with [Pnt Growth] were already very lush, and even System himself could hardly find the nest hidden among the weeds during his patrols in the sky.

  However, it was impossible for System to get everything that he wanted.

  The camoufged nest remained hidden from the gnolls and bck eagles, but it was still discovered by the ratmen.

  Recently, System had found some little rats sneaking around his nest each day. They seemed to be scouting the pce, but they had also occasionally attacked the ordinary worker ants that had gone out to forage for food.

  Shava and Meatball had killed nearly ten of the little rat scouts in the past two days, but more still kept showing up around the nest from time to time.

  Although these scouting mice had proved to be an excellent food source for System's ant subjects, the feeling of being targeted wasn't a good one.

  In fact, ever since his rebirth in Lilt Forest, System had never had this feeling of being targeted. Even though he'd been forced to live a cautious life as a rva and had always been in danger, he'd never had to worry about any predators catching sight of him and hunting him endlessly.

  Usually, as long as he was able to avoid danger once, that would be the end of it. However, the ws of the jungle that the creatures back in Lilt Forest had seemed to follow didn't seem to apply to these ratmen.

  In the time since he'd crossed the border of Lilt Forest, System had seen more than a dozen ratmen, and for various reasons, he'd killed four of them. Now it seemed that there must have been more ratmen that System hadn't found along the way. Some of those ratmen must have discovered that he'd killed the others.

  Due to the high intelligence of ratmen, they obviously wouldn't follow the ws of the jungle like wild beasts. They had their own set of rules and logic.

  The way that System had hunted the ratmen before must have seemed too casual and cruel to them, which had attracted the ratmen's hostility.

  At present, they kept sending little rats to investigate, which was most likely either to test the nest's defenses or for simple surveilnce. Maybe, after a bit of time had passed, some ratmen would show up and do something to harm the colony.

  Because of that possibility, System had been trying to decide how to deal with his ratman problem in recent days.

  Although ratmen could make some simple weapons and traps, their physique was usually very weak. Even System was confident that he could kill one by himself using his tentacles and his [Corrosive Mucus]. If it was Shava or the little meatball who made a move, ratmen would be even more vulnerable.

  Because the two sides couldn't communicate, System had pnned to make a skull pyramid. To build one, he just needed to pile countless heads into a pyramid shape. It was a method that had been used by the ancients in System's previous life to intimidate foreign races.

  The particur skull pyramid that System wanted to make would use the heads of ratmen and ordinary rats. However, System had given up on this idea after a little consideration. It would be good if his pn succeeded, but if it failed, the conflict between the two sides would undoubtedly escate.

  Although ratmen were generally weak, there were exceptions to everything. In this magical world, it was impossible for all ratmen to be mortals. There would always be a few powerful ratmen with magical powers.

  If System got them angry, those ratmen might unite to attack him. After all, there was an underground city full of ratmen only a hundred kilometers away.

  Moreover, he'd already reached his level cap. After he thoroughly studied and activated Meatball's [Morph] ability, he pnned to begin strengthening [Pupation]. After that, he would undergo his third pupation, break through his level cap, and become a magical life form.

  System felt that he might turn into a pupa in three months at the earliest or half a year at the test. As for how long it would take him to break out of his pupa, he had no idea.

  In order to avoid unexpected situations, he decided to carefully handle the ratmen that he'd previously underestimated. If he didn't do a good job dealing with them, he and his ant subjects might have to migrate again.

  System finally decided on a pn—he'd catch the ratman acting behind the scenes who was commanding the little rats, then interrogate it. After all, he still knew too little about these ratmen, and he also didn't know what the ratmen thought of him and his ant subjects.

  Although [Mental Transmission] couldn't work on mammals, and System also didn't understand the ratman nguage, there was always the oldest method of learning a foreign nguage directly.

  Perhaps System would have a hard time learning the ratman nguage himself, but the highly intelligent worker ant Bck would master it much more easily.

  ...

  System pulled the roasted rat down from the fire, then used his tentacles to put the roasted meat in a cool pce so that it could air dry. After this roasted food was air dried, it could be safely stored for a longer time.

  Ever since he'd found the lighter in the ratman's cave, System had been using it to roast meat during his downtime.

  Unfortunately, although these roasted meats smelled good, their fvor was quite a bit different from raw meat. After the meat was cooked, it ended up tasting extremely bnd.

  After trying a little, System didn't pn to eat it again. If it really came down to eating roasted rat, he might as well just go outside and eat some grass.

  However, compared to System, his ant subjects had no issue with roasted meat, and his son Meatball even preferred the taste of roasted food.

  As he pulled another roasted rat down from the fire, System's [Intuition] finally gave him a strange feeling again, like he was being watched.

  After nearly two hours of waiting for a rat to show up, one had finally snuck over to investigate him.

  This time, System didn't let the little meatball or Shava catch it. Instead, he had Meatball drive the rat away, while he flew in the sky and followed it back to its owner.

  Contrary to System's expectations, the little rat only ran for about two hundred meters before it suddenly rushed straight into a half-meter-high rock and disappeared.

  Meatball, who had been chasing the rat, was just as surprised and confused as System. His body gradually changed shape, and a long, fleshy tube extended outward. Moments ter, a bck spike shot out of the tube and flew directly toward the stone.

  Unexpectedly, the spike also disappeared straight into the stone just like the little rat.

  A fsh of blue light appeared in System's eyes. As he used the ability to identify objects in his [Tools Menu], he determined that the half-meter-high stone was very likely fake based on its unusual outline.

  'Is this an illusion, or is it something else?'

  System's expression became a little solemn. No matter what it was, it was clear that this was a method used by a ratman with magical powers.

  After notifying the little meatball not to act rashly for the time being, System called over Shava, who was still grilling meat by the fire. Facing such an unknown existence, he felt much more at ease with Shava by his side.

  After all, her power was extremely special. As long as she activated it, not only would her strength increase, she would also be immune to most abnormal states. She could be said to be the nemesis of all spell casters.